Jeff Apaka got tired of hearing car crashes and ambulance sirens at Launiu Street and Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki. Traffic lights may halt
Kuhio car crunchesBy Pat Gee
Star-BulletinFour Paddle Condominium manager Jim Poorbaugh said there has been an "absolute epidemic" of accidents, about two a week in the year and a half he has been living there.
Apaka led a fight to get proper traffic lights. He said it took two months of "me calling every day" to get the "arms," or extensions attached to posts, to extend the lights over traffic and make them visible.
The city Department of Transportation Services was scheduled to install the lights this morning.The problem resulted when Ewa-bound motorists on Kuhio got caught behind a bus stopping near the intersection, blocking motorists' view of the traffic light. These drivers speed around the bus and through the intersection, often through a red light. They are unaware that cars are turning left onto Kuhio from Launiu, and it is these left-turning cars that get struck most often, Apaka said.
Just last week, there were two accidents, and over the weekend, two more, said entertainer Apaka, who walks the neighborhood at night as part of the Waikiki Citizens Patrol.
There are lights on the other side of Kuhio, but people do not seem to look as they speed around the bus, he added.
Poorbaugh said residents of the Four Paddle often make the left turn onto Kuhio, and, like others, "I've had many near misses." Because he is aware of the problem, he waits to see if motorists are going to stop before he makes the turn to avoid hitting someone or being hit. But even though he is careful, Poorbaugh said, he almost killed a motorcyclist running a red light recently.
Officer Leland Cadoy recently patrolled the intersection and confirmed that there are frequent collisions and "a lot of near misses" with people running the lights.
People cannot see the lights because the bus stop is located too close to the intersection, he said. "I think it should be moved, but that will take an act of God, or someone needs to be killed. I don't know what it's going to take," he added.